Review of National Council for Teacher Education and Initiatives Taken to Support Teacher Training

The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports (Chair: Mr. Digvijaya Singh) presented its report on “Review of Functioning of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and Initiatives Taken to Support Training of Teachers in light of NEP 2020’s Thrust on Capacity Building of Teachers” on August 08, 2025.  Key observations and recommendations of the Committee include:

Vacancies:  The Committee noted that NCTE has 123 sanctioned posts, out of which 47% are vacant.  There are around 10 lakh vacant posts for school teachers in the country.  It also noted a shortage of trainers and faculty in District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs).  It observed that vacancies are increasing due to the absence of a permanent recruitment policy.  The Committee recommended filling up these vacancies through permanent recruitment by March, 2026.  It also recommended avoiding contractual appointments of teachers in schools.

Integrated teacher training:  The National Education Policy, 2020 envisions five years of foundational and preparatory stages for school education.  The Committee observed that teacher training is divided into foundational and preparatory programs.  This division leads to a lack of continuity for seamless learning, and does not prepare teachers for dynamic school settings.  The Committee recommended integrating teacher training from pre-school to grade five.  Cross-stage training modules must be leveraged to equip teachers for multi-grade classrooms.  The Committee also recommended to review the Draft regulations on NCTE released in 2025, for addressing the issue of segmentation of teachers’ education.

Exit options under ITEP:  Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) is a four-year integrated bachelor degree program in education.  The Committee observed that fragmented exit options under the current structure of ITEP increase the risk of underqualified teacher candidates and waste of resources.  The Committee recommended eliminating exit options in first, second, and third year.

Government funding for ITEP:  The Committee observed that the self-financed nature of ITEP courses may not be affordable for many students with rural
backgrounds.  The Committee recommended to implement ITEP with government funding.

Upgradation of DIETs:  The Committee observed a lack of infrastructure and quality human resource in DIETs.  The Committee recommended developing an evaluation score for each DIET in this regard.  It recommended: (i) encouraging state governments to develop action plans for improvement of DIETs, (ii) providing technical assistance to low-scoring DIETs, (iii) developing a cost-estimation framework, (iv) allocating additional funds for upgrading facilities, and (v) implementing a real-time monitoring system to track the progress.

Setting up at least one DIET in every district:  The Committee observed that there are 780 districts in the country.  Out of them, only 613 districts have functional DIETs.  It recommended establishing at least one DIET in each district.  It also observed that 92% of the teacher education institutions are private.  It recommended that every district must have at least one public teacher education institution offering ITEP.

Continuation of B. El. Ed programme:  B. El. Ed is a four-year program to train teachers for elementary education.  The Committee observed that the program is necessary to address the needs of qualified teachers.  It recommended that B. El. Ed programs must continue.  It recommended NCTE to upgrade the programme’s curriculum and encourage more institutions to adopt it.

Minimum qualification for teachers in elementary education:  The Committee noted a difference in eligibility criteria for teachers and Anganwadi workers to teach a three-year old child.  It recommended that the minimum qualification must be 12^th grade plus a two-year diploma degree.

Approach to regulation:  The Committee recommended that NCTE must follow UGC’s approach of providing guidelines, credit frameworks, and allowing universities to design curriculum.  As per NCTE, the number of working days in a semester must be 125 days.  The Committee noted that this is in conflict with standards by UGC (14-15 weeks per semester).  It recommended NCTE to collaborate with UGC to standardise the semester duration.